Microsoft Steers Developers to Ajax Roadmap

In an effort to improve its Ajax features in ASP.NET, Microsoft announced its Ajax roadmap. The document lays out new features, many of which are available in third party JavaScript frameworks.

Among the most exciting proposed features slated for the next version are DOM manipulation APIs, which make it easy to access any elements in a web page. The company also plans to translate some server-side controls to be accessible via client-side calls. For example, a templating control could retrieve data from the server and place it into a page based on a local template without refreshing.

On the list of nice-to-haves, Microsoft includes animation and drag & drop. These popular features are a major part of effects libraries such as Scriptaculous, Moo and JQuery.

Developers attempting to use non-Microsoft tools have long had difficulty fitting in with the ASP.NET framework. For example, ASP.NET changes the ID of any server-manipulated page element. The DOM features alone in the proposed update to Microsoft’s Ajax tools will simplify client-side access.

Some web purists may criticize Microsoft for not working to support third-party JavaScript frameworks. The company has long forged their own path with ASP.NET and to their credit each version is better than the previous.

If you want a peak at what the code will look like in the future version of ASP.NET Ajax, download the roadmap.